Platonov (Russian: Платонов also known as Fatherlessness and A Play Without a Title)[1] is the name in English given to an early, untitled play written in Russian by Anton Chekhov in 1878. It was the first large-scale drama by Chekhov[1] written specifically for Maria Yermolova, rising star of Maly Theatre.[2] Yermolova rejected the play and it was not published until 1923.[1]
The lead character is "Mikhail Platonov", a disillusioned provincial schoolmaster, and his name is used for the title in English translations. The work has been adapted and produced at the Almeida Theatre in London, the Bristol Old Vic, and by the Soulpepper Theatre Company in Toronto.[3][4] A widely-performed adaptation by playwright Michael Frayn, given the title Wild Honey, appeared in 1984.[3] Chekhov's own text, which despite a running time of about five hours he never thought of as finished, is seldom played. However in 1997 the director Lev Dodin and the Maly Theatre of St Petersburg presented a faithful, and once again untitled, version at the annual Weimar arts festival. The running time was four hours.[5] The production was taken to St Petersburg and Milan later that year. Five performances were mounted at the Barbican Arts Centre, London, in June 1999.[6]
The BBC produced a 1971 televised movie of the work, featuring Rex Harrison in the title role. In 1976 writer Aleksander Adabashian and director Nikita Mikhalkov transformed the work into another film, Неоконченная пьеса для механического пианино (Neokonchennaya pyesa dlya mekhanicheskogo pianino), made in Russian by Mosfilm and released in the west as An unfinished piece for mechanical piano.[5] This in turn was reworked by Trevor Griffiths into a new stage version called Piano, produced at the Cottesloe Theatre, London, in August 1990.[5] Stephen Rea was Platonov.
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